Joel Embiid scored 70 points in Philadelphia. Karl-Anthony Towns had 62 in Minnesota. The elite big men paired up to accomplish something not seen in the NBA in more than 45 years.
So January 22, 2024 has been marked as a day like few others in the history of the NBA.
On the 18th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in a game with the Los Angeles Lakers, the second-highest scoring mark in a game in NBA history, Embiid and Towns put on an electrifying show, setting historic marks for their He has a couple of personal bests in points and historic efforts for his franchises.
“From the moment I started playing, Kobe was my player,” Embiid said. “He is the reason I started playing basketball. It’s funny, on the same night he scored 81 points and he was my favorite player.”
Embiid’s 70 points represent a record in Philadelphia’s 133-123 victory over San Antonio. Towns scored 62 points, two more than his previous career high and a Timberwolves record, but it wasn’t enough in Minnesota’s 128-125 loss in Charlotte.
Ultimately, Monday marked the fourth day in NBA history in which two players scored at least 60 points. The others were on April 9, 1978, (David Thompson scored 73 for Denver, George Gervin scored 63 for San Antonio in a duel on the last day of the season for the scoring title); on January 17, 1962, (Jerry West scored 63 for the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain 62 for the Philadelphia Warriors) and December 8, 1961 (Chamberlain scored 78 for the Warriors and Elgin Baylor 63 for the Lakers in a game of triple overtime).
“These guys are going CRAZY tonight!” NBA scoring leader LeBron James posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Source: AP
